Chase Briscoe grabs his Ultimate 4 spot with a NASCAR Cup Collection win at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday within the YellaWood 500.
In a usually dramatic push to the Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway checkered flag, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe made a final lap go on the frantic-field to assert victory in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 NASCAR Cup Collection Playoff race and earn his first-ever profession shot on the season title.
Chase Briscoe’s Win at Talladega
The 29-year-old Indiana native, Briscoe will be a part of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, who received final week at Las Vegas. That leaves the ultimate two spots within the Championship 4 to be determined subsequent week at Martinsville Speedway.
Briscoe thanked one other JGR teammate, nevertheless, 23-year-old Ty Gibbs for the push ahead on the ultimate lap Sunday that resulted in his first-ever superspeedway win. The margin of victory was 0.145-second over Entrance Row Motorsports’ driver Todd Gilliland and Gibbs. Neither are among the many present eight-driver Playoff discipline.
The runner-up exhibiting was a profession finest for Gilliland. 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace and Haas Manufacturing facility Staff’s Cole Custer rounded out the top-five.
“Ty Gibbs, simply an unimaginable teammate there,’’ mentioned an emotional Briscoe, who stood on his No. 19 JGR Toyota waving his arms to the cheering crowd “I actually wouldn’t have received that race with out Ty. It was a tremendous crew effort. I can’t consider I received a superspeedway race. I’ve by no means completed it at any stage.”
“It’s not hit me, we’re going to Phoenix,’’ a grinning Briscoe mentioned of the championship alternative he now has after main solely 16 laps Sunday, however an important last one.
“Completely [a dream come true]. So grateful that the Lord’s blessed me, opening doorways and shutting door at instances, however definitely opening an unimaginable door for me right here at Joe Gibbs Racing. … Even right this moment I simply had such a “peace” and usually I’m scared to dying, nervous round this place however right this moment simply had such a peace.’’
Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, Bell, Entrance Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith and Roush-Fenway-Keselowski owner-driver Brad Keselowski rounded out Sunday’s high ten. .
One other JGR driver, Christopher Bell joined Briscoe as the one different Playoff competitor to complete among the many high ten Sunday. Bell crossed the road eighth within the frantic three-wide 4 rows deep end that has lengthy characterised the two.66-mile Talladega high-banks. Talladega Superspeedway is NASCAR’s largest observe. With Hamlin and Briscoe within the title race due to victories, Bell now holds the highest factors place, 37 factors above the cutoff line.
Nearly as good of a day because it was for the Gibbs crew to have the ability to declare half the championship race eligibility and place Bell atop the factors standings, it was a disappointing afternoon for the opposite two organizations additionally racing for a shot on the title – Hendrick Motorsports and Staff Penske.
Hendrick had two automobiles working among the many high 5 for the time beyond regulation restart solely to have Kyle Larson drop again from the lead after working out of gas. William Byron get spun out from behind solely yards in entrance of the end line whereas working high ten. They completed twenty fifth (Byron) and twenty sixth (Larson).
Larson is ranked fourth, some extent beneath Bell within the standings – 36 factors above the cutoff line. Byron – the common season champion – is now fifth, 36 factors beneath the road.
Penske’s two Playoff drivers, reigning sequence champion Joey Logano and 2023 sequence champ Ryan Blaney additionally skilled related late-race frustration after positioning themselves up entrance within the waning laps. Logano’s No. 22 Ford truly led essentially the most laps (35) on the day and turned within the longest single stint out entrance (16 laps) in a race that featured an unimaginable 77 lead modifications amongst 27 drivers.
In the end neither may transfer ahead within the closing pair of laps, nevertheless. Logano completed sixteenth and Blaney was twenty third – after each needed to pit in the course of the time beyond regulation warning interval to high off on gas.
“Actually, actually irritating since you’re so shut and also you see in entrance of you what you’ve acquired to do and you’ll’t do something about it,’’ mentioned reigning sequence champion, Logano. “It’s irritating however we all know what we’ve acquired to do now, it’s fairly easy.’’
Spherical of 8 Playoff Image
Sunday’s outcomes depart Logano ranked sixth among the many eight Playoff drivers, 38 factors beneath the cutoff line. Blaney is seventh, 47 factors again. Each now want a victory at Martinsville to return to the championship race. Blaney has received the final two Playoff races on the half-mile Martinsville observe and Logano received it in 2018.
NASCAR’s perennial “Most Standard Driver” and an enormous Talladega crowd favourite Chase Elliott was the primary Playoff driver to have bother Sunday, collected in an eight-car accident close to the entrance of the sphere solely 51 laps into the 193-lap race, leading to a final place end within the 40-car discipline.
“I noticed anyone get turned sideways similar to regular and also you hope you may get slowed down in time however I acquired turned sideways there in some way, someway and hit some extra stuff after that,’’ Elliott mentioned, including, “We simply didn’t execute that properly as a gaggle and put ourselves behind the pack sadly and acquired caught up within the mess.
“Stage factors are so essential proper now and I wasn’t tremendous stunned everyone was beginning to get tremendous aggressive and sadly, I didn’t make it by.
“Until we received right this moment we have been already doubtless in a really related state of affairs subsequent week. I hate it. I don’t know what you do in these conditions. We weren’t again there doing something wild or loopy, I simply acquired turned sideways and slid up into the wreck. Eager about it I want I may have completed one thing completely different, however I don’t actually know what I’d have completed. Trying ahead to Martinsville. Obtained yet another shot at it.’’
Up Subsequent
The ultimate spherical to set the 2025 Playoff discipline is Sunday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway. The Xfinity 500 begins at 2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Staff Penske’s Ryan Blaney is the defending winner.
